Crash Bandicoot: The Test of Time
by eternal1990
Summary: Crash is finding himself trapped in the dark. One person is there to guide his way. But can she get to him before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

**I actually was able to get the prologue written for this new installment much earlier than I thought so I figured; eh why not?**

**This story is no longer going to follow the series as starting with Crash Twinsanity I don't consider them Crash games.**

**Other than that I don't have much else to say expect enjoy I think you all will.**

**Lastly for the Prologue I recommend listening to The Day Seattle Died by Cold**

**Crash Bandicoot and any other related characters or not mine, they belong to whoever has a clue at this point. Any OC's in this story are in fact mine.**

**So let's start**

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><p>Prologue<p>

3 years later

Three long and cold years seemed to dwindle on for Crash Bandicoot.

While everything around him seemed to be the same as it always had been, the now 16 year old marsupial certainly wasn't.

After he defeated his arch nemesis Dr. Neo Cortex for the 4th time, he had seriously Jan before he had escaped unscathed.

While Jan did survive, she decided that it was probably the best thing to leave Crash so she could spare him anymore emotional pain; as she realized that as long as she hung around with Crash, Cortex would still target her.

Although Jan thought that was the best thing, Crash didn't seem to think so; through those three years he completely closed himself off. He stopped talking to a good number of people that he used to know and started hanging with people that he originally never would have thought about.

He was angry and depressed all the time and was lucky if he didn't get into a fight once a month. It was almost safe to say that Crash was no longer the same naïve but kind young boy that had washed up on the shores of N. Sanity beach all those years ago; and the ironic thing about that was, he didn't care.

He was living in world where he couldn't even be who he was; so why bend to the laws of society when he got nothing in return?

The door to the apartment slammed shut when one of the only original friends he had left, Holly, came home from her evening of working at the rock bar.

"Crash! You're still up?!" She asked, rather shocked.

"Why do you care?!" Crash demanded.

"Crash you have school tomorrow; you can't keep staying up like! You need a good night's sleep! You haven't had one of those in 3 years!" Holly cried.

"Why would I want to close my eyes just to relive the nightmares again!" Crash snarled.

"Crash! You're a completely different person; and we're worried about you!"

"Whose worried about me!"

"Me, Sean, our dad, and Aku Aku! You're slipping away, and we don't know what to do!"

"What can be done?! I live in a world where I can't even be myself! I'm a fucking outcast and I've come to terms with that; so why can't you?" Crash demanded, his eyes glassy.

Holly's face softened.

"Crash this isn't who you are; the Crash Bandicoot we knew and loved never talked like this. He never gave up, he never let society bring him down, he stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. That was the Crash Bandicoot we knew; not this cold hard shell that you have become. Please Crash, I don't old you to go away."

Crash looked at her with cold sad eyes.

"I'm sorry Holly, but I do."

The bandicoot walked to the door and grabbed his coat.

"I'm going for walk." He said, quietly.

"Fine." She said, not looking at him.

Crash walked down the stairs.

What was the point of changing when the world around him didn't want to change either?

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	2. Who am I?

**Hey guys! It has been awhile since I updated this fic so I figured get this out now while it's still fresh in your mind.**

**This chapter is rather sad but sometimes that's the way it is.**

**It will get happier soon though.**

**For the first half of this chapter I recommend listening to Whatever You Became by Cold**

**Second half I recommend listening to Possibility by Lykke Li**

**Crash is not mine. Oc's are mine.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>Chapter<strong> 1 Who am I?<strong>

Crash was sitting nonchalantly inside shop class. He really wasn't into building or any of that garbage, but he liked the fact that he got to use destructive tools, so he didn't really complain.

He gazed at the other students; all of them seemed to be getting in the mood, but Crash seemed to scowl at their overall cheerful behavior. Why did they all want to be happy in a world that had nothing darkness all around?

Crash jumped slightly when he felt Elkie touch his shoulder.

The bandicoot turned toward her; he barely talked to her anymore, so why did she want to talk to him all of a sudden?

"You seem depressed." She said, softly.

"Gee how could you tell?!" Crash asked, sarcastically.

"Crash, I may be blind but I am not stupid! You've been wallowing in self loathing for the past 3 three years! You're a completely different person!"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" Crash screamed, jumping in front of the blind girl's face.

Everyone was now staring at him.

"Crash report to the office immediately; your getting more and more out of control!" The teacher demanded, pointing to the door.

Crash gave the teacher the finger before storming out of the classroom.

Elkie stared at the door with numb eyes.

"Crash, what happened to the kind bandicoot that came to my aid three years ago?" She whispered, softly.

"Miss Renner get back to your seat!" The teacher angrily demanded.

The girl sighed in defeat before she slinked back to her seat.

The rest day slowly ticked by until the final bell rang.

Elkie walked to her locker to gather her things; she was more than pleased that the weekend had come. She was distracted that she never noticed Curtis tap her shoulder. She yelped in surprise.

"It's only me." The older male said.

"Oh hi..." She said, quietly.

"You doing anything over the weekend?" He asked.

"I don't know yet." She answered, quietly.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come to Jersey with me and my sisters this weekend."

Elkie turned her head when she thought she felt Crash's presence nearby.

"Curtis is Crash standing next to me?" She asked, hopefully.

"Why would he be; he hasn't talked to any us, besides Candy and Beau, for three years. So why would he now?"

"I don't know; maybe I was just being hopeful."

"So you gonna come?"

"I'm gonna pass." She said, quietly.

Curtis glared.

"Whatever..." He stormed off.

Elkie glared; he really wasn't any better than his sisters. She then decided to do what she should have done all those years ago... Go and talk to Crash.

Taking her cane she made her way out of the building. She remembered that Crash had moved in with some friends a little farther downtown and decided that it would be the best place to find him.

After about a half an hour Elkie came to the apartment building. Walking inside, she walked over to the front desk.

"Do you know if an orange bandicoot lives here?" She asked.

The man looked at her.

"Yes. There is a bandicoot that lives here. His apartment number is 987."

Elkie nodded her thanks as she made her way to the elevator.

After a short ride, she was on the ninth floor and slowly made her way down the hall. After she found a and ran her fingers along the room number to see that she had found the right apartment.

She knocked on the door loudly.

She heard the clicking of the door and Crash answered.

"Crash it's..."

But he immediately slammed the door right in her face.

Biting her lip she began pounding on the door.

"GO AWAY!" Crash snarled on the on the other side.

"Please let me in!" Elkie begged. "Don't shut everyone away like this!"

"I don't need anybody! I'm fine!" Crash growled.

"That's the problem, Crash! You're not fine! You're even more lonely than you realize!"

No answer.

"Crash... Come out here and talk to me!"

"No..."

"Well if you won't come out, then just listen to me..."

No answer.

"Crash... I know you are feeling a great amount of pain. I know that what had happened to Jan has really hurt you; and I know it's hurting you even more that you have no idea where your sister is... But Crash, you can't close yourself off like this; it's not healthy! There are still many people that are here right now that care about you. Don't you think that's worth something?" The blind girl said, tears flowing down her face.

Crash bit his lip to keep himself from crying, but he couldn't open his mouth to say anything.

"Crash are you listening?" Elkie asked, quietly.

No answer.

Elkie tried to choke back a sob as she came to the realization that Crash was not going to open the door.

"I take it your not going to open the door."

Elkie's words were getting deep into Crash's mind; but he still couldn't speak or move.

"Well I'm sorry Crash; I'm sorry I wasn't there to see how and why you became this way. I guess that's my own fault. I shouldn't have come here... I'm sorry."

Crash swallowed a sob as he could hear the sound Elkie walking away. He wanted to open the door and tell her everything he felt; but all he could do was stand there and do nothing.

Crash knew she was right. He was shutting away the people that were still around that cared about him. All because of his self loathing and guilt.

After about five minutes, Crash finally found the strength to move making his way to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror; he could see himself staring back with his bloodshot eyes. And for a second from the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw a hint of red behind him.

"Jan...?" He asked, looking behind him. Only there was nobody.

The bandicoot breathed heavily; of course Jan wasn't there. Jan was gone and all that was left was her shadow.

"I know you were only trying to do what you thought was best. I know you only did what you what did because you didn't want Cortex to use you to hurt me anymore; but when you left, why did you have to take a large part of me with you?" Crash asked, looking at the ground.

The shadows didn't answer.

"Everything I seemed to be, was taken when you left."

Again there was only silence.

Crash smiled sadly.

"I only wish that wherever you may be, that you're happy. I hope that you've finally taken flight, my flightless bird..."

He looked out the window, it started to rain again. It always seemed to rain.

He looked back into the mirror when he noticed tears streaming down his face; it was first time he had cried in three years.

Jan was gone and he had to except that. He couldn't hold out hope anymore.

"Crash old buddy..." He said to himself the sad smile still on his face. "What's happened to us?"

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	3. Fading In and Out

**Sup People! Here's the next chapter. And the happiness finally comes back. And I also added a little something that ties something together from a previous installment.**

**Also for this chapter I recommend listening to Hold My Hand by Hootie and Blowfish.**

**Crash is not mine. OCs are mine.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>Chapter 2 Fading In and Out<p>

The sun had just risen on that Saturday morning. Crash was already dressed and ready for the day; what was so important to him was that he had to go talk to Elkie. He owed her an apology for snapping at the previous day; she was only trying you to reach out to him.

Crash sighed deeply when he saw he was ready, he even bought the blind girl flowers. He just hoped that was enough.

Crash walked out of his bedroom to see Holly was preparing to go out as well.

"Where are you going?" Crash asked.

"I have to run a few errands before I go to work. You?"

"Out." The bandicoot simply said.

"With flowers?" The older girl smirked.

"What of it?!" Crash demanded, blushing.

"Are those for a girl?" Holly asked, her grin remaining.

Crash glared turning more and more red.

"Shut up!" He whined.

"Okay, I'm sorry... Lover boy!" Holly laughed.

Crash shot her a look.

"All right I'll stop; just stay out of trouble today okay?"

"Yes mother!" Crash said, sarcastically.

Holly grabbed her bag.

"Have fun today." She was gone.

Crash sighed.

"All right Crash old buddy, let's go do this."

The bandicoot walked out of his apartment and into the busy street. The weather was quite warm this morning and Crash had to wonder if he was starting to sweat.

15 minutes passed when he finally made it to her Grandfather's deli that held the apartment upstairs where Elkie leaved with him and her mother.

Crash slowly walked inside to see the old man grinning at him.

"Hi there! What can I get for you?" The man said, with a thick Boston accent.

"Is Elkie here" Crash asked, nervously.

"I'm afraid she's still sleeping; but if you would like to wait, I'll make you something to eat, she should be up soon." The old man said.

Crash sighed before seating himself at the counter.

"I'll wait."

The man smiled.

"I'll make some steak and eggs with toast. That's Elkie's favorite."

Crash grinned.

The bandicoot watched as the man put some descent sized steaks on the small grill.

"So how long have you known Elkie, Crash?"

"About three years... Wait how did you know my name?" Crash asked.

"And where did you learn to ride a motorcycle?" He asked.

"What I never told..."

"You don't remember me, do you; but I remember you Crash."

"I'm sorry but, have we met?"

"Don't you remember? It was 1966 in the middle of route 66. You asked me if you could borrow my motorcycle so that beat a group of punks for some sort of jewel. You won the race."

Crash eyes widened.

"Oh yeah! I remember; you had one sweet ride." Crash grinned, goofily.

The old man smiled. "Yup that bike and I go back a long way."

"Do you still have it?" Crash asked.

"Sure do. Unfortunately I don't ride as much used to; if you'd like I'll give it you."

"I couldn't do that Mr... uh."

"Just call me John." The man said.

"Well John, I can't do that, you barely know me."

"But the way you handles those troublemakers was so badass."

Crash grinned. "You're cool."

The two then heard shuffling upstairs.

"Looks like my Granddaughter's up. She must have smelled breakfast." John chuckled.

Elkie was seen coming down the stairs dressed in some rolled up jeans and a baggy sweatshirt.

"Grandpa I smell steak and... Crash what are you doing here?!" Elkie asked, shocked.

"I came to talk."

Elkie felt a wide smile tug on her face. "You did hear. me." She thought.

"I brought you some flowers." The bandicoot said, handing them to her.

"They smell lovely. Don't they smell lovely, Grandpa?" The blind girl asked.

"They sure do, sweetie. Now come and have some breakfast." John said, placing her plate on the counter.

Elkie rushed to the counter; immediately stuffing her face.

"Look Elkie, I'm sorry I snapped out you yesterday. I was wallowing in my own self pity."

"I understand Crash; I know you miss Jan and your sister very much. I'm glad to see that you're coming back into the light again."

Crash felt the awkward come back onto his face.

"I guess I just needed a little push." He blushed.

Crash looked outside to see the bright sunshine.

"It looks like it's going to be really nice day... You wanna do something with me?" He asked.

Elkie turned a little red.

"Well... I... Sure!" She blushed. "What did you want to do?"

Crash grinned.

"We can whatever you want."

"Just let me change my shirt."

She ran up the stairs.

"Would you declare this a date?" Crash asked Elkie's grandfather.

"Possibly." He chuckled.

Crash grinned nervously.

"Relax and just be yourself."

Elkie returned dressed in a white casual blouse.

"I'm ready to go." She said, shyly.

"Me too..." Crash gulped.

The two walked out.

"Be back in time for dinner!" John called, waving after them.

It was later in the afternoon when Crash was walking along the pier; looking at the view of the city along the water. Elkie was right beside him; using her cane to guide her.

"Did you have fun, today?" Crash asked.

Elkie chuckled.

"Of course I did; I didn't think I could have that much fun browsing through old record stores. Or playing laser tag."

"I'm surprised you kicked my ass so good." Crash grinned.

Eklie grinned slyly.

"I maybe blind, but I have fantastic sense of hearing."

The bandicoot chuckled.

"Hey Crash I know this might not be any of my business, but do you still care about Jan?"

Crash sighed.

"I have thought about her a lot the last three years; but I think I'm ready to let her go. It's clear that she and I can't be together, and I'm not going to dwell on it anymore; not when I have a girl that's here with me right now."

Elkie grinned slightly.

"Gee I never knew that I might that much to you."

Crash blushed. "I guess I just needed to see that."

Elkie looked out towards the city.

"The sun feels so warm... I do wish there were times where I could see it; and sometimes I wish I could see you too."

Crash frowned slightly.

"But you can see better than anyone I know."

"Yeah but... Sometimes its hard just to see nothing but darkness, maybe some faint shadows."

Crash grinned.

"But that hasn't stopped you has it?"

Elkie turned to him; not being able to help the fact that she was grinning.

"I guess it hasn't."

The bandicoot took her hand; but the instant he did a deep shade of red settled on both of their faces.

"I think it's almost time for dinner. Let's head back to the deli." Elkie sighed.

"Can I still hold your hand?" Crash asked.

"Of course you can."

"You wanna run back?"

"Promise you'll hang on tight?"

"I promise."

Crash immediately began to take off running while holding Elkie's hand tightly. The two were nothing but laughs and smiles. And as for Crash in particular; he hadn't felt this good in so long.

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	4. Familiar Faces

**It's been a very long time my loyal readers and to make up for it. I've posted this rather long chapter. This chapter also starts to set up future events throughout the series so it's important that you read this. Also if you have not read Elements or The Way we Bleed you will not know what's going and is important that you read them. Other than that, Enjoy the chapter.**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine.**

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><p>Chapter 3 Familiar Faces<p>

It was about a week later when Crash was in the apartment garage polishing the motorcycle that Elkie's Grandfather's had given to him. He looked out the window to see the warm sun shining along the street.

The bandicoot grinned to himself.

"Seems like a great day to take her out for a spin."

"You seem a lot happier, Crash." A voice said from behind.

Crash turned to see Sean and Holly standing in the doorway.

"I really didn't seem to notice any change in my persona." Crash said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Crash you were a shell of your former self. I think the time you have been spending with Elkie has done you a lot of good." Sean said.

"Yeah. I feel like the gap in my life closed when I let Elkie back into my life. I haven't really thought about Jan in the time I've spent with her."

"See Crash, you are better off without Jan." Holly smiled.

"I wouldn't say that..."

"Crash do you know how hurt you were when she left?" Sean asked.

Crash lowered his head when he thought about it.

"I begged her to stay. I just didn't want to see leave; but it was that monster that drove the wedge between us."

"Do you really think that, Crash?" Holly demanded.

"Why wouldn't it? I mean Cortex has gone after Jan with sole purpose of getting me to crack. He managed to do that twice in the past. When it happened a third time, that's when I think she realized what was happening was mentally hurting me; and it wasn't until now that I realized it too. So she did what she thought was the best for both of us." Crash sighed, looking out the window.

"Crash, Jan's not coming back." Sean said, gently.

"I know... But I guess a small part of me holds out hope."

The mood now seemed so dismal when the crack of thunder could be heard outside. The Three looked out to see the rain now pouring on the streets.

"Well there goes my plans to riding today." Crash grumbled.

"Well we can do something else." Sean said.

"Like what?"

"Why don't we could go browsing around Downtown."

Crash sighed as he heard the thunder continue to roar.

"I guess so; there's really nothing else to do today.

A couple of hours later Crash and Sean were out and about the city. Looking to see if there were anything worth buying.

"There's really nothing to buy is there?" Sean asked, a bit disappointed.

"Let's go sit around at Starbucks until we figure out what to do." Crash suggested.

The two walked into Starbucks, only to see the enormous long line. The two felt annoyed.

"Even Starbucks has to be ruined." Crash groaned.

"Well it's another 12 blocks to the next Starbucks; so you better stop complaining and get your ass in line." Sean growled.

Crash chuckled.

"Somebody needs there coffee fix."

"Shut up!"

The two got in line to wait. The line itself however seemed to decide that it wanted to take it's sweet ass time to move. As the two were still waiting in line for close to a half an hour.

"I want my coffee!" Sean growled in almost an animalistic way.

"Stay down, grasshopper." Crash said calmly to his friend.

The two looked ahead to see the person in front of them was constantly pondering all of the items on the menu, but would not make a decision.

"Will you hurry up! I've been waiting for almost a half an hour!" Someone in the back of the line yelled.

But the person continued to ponder, causing everyone to groan.

"We're going to be here the rest of the afternoon, aren't we?" Crash asked.

"Probably." Sean sighed.

"Crash...?" A voice said from behind.

Crash turned around to see Koga standing there.

"Koga! What are you doing here?!" Crash asked, shocked.

"I live here." He said, casually.

"In the city!"

"Born and raised!"

"Whose he?" Sean asked.

"Sean this is Koga. I met him on my previous adventure when I was looking for crystals in Japan." Crash smiled.

"Nice to meet you." They both said, shaking hands.

"So what are you doing at Starbucks on a rainy Saturday afternoon?" Crash asked.

"I came here with a friend of mine." Koga explained.

"Where are they?" Sean asked, not seeing anyone.

Koga laughed.

"Oh he went to the bathroom. Oh there he is now! I'll introduce you."

The two males turned to see a blonde male walking toward them; but Crash immediately recognized him.

"Guys, I would like you to meet Tomas. Tomas I would like to meet Crash and Sean."

"I already know who Crash is... We worked to together in his last mission." Tomas said, nonchalantly.

"Yeah... We did..." Crash said, keeping his voice cool."

"It's very nice to meet you again Tomas." Sean said, trying to break the ice.

"When did you and I ever meet?" Tomas asked, confused.

"Back at the hospital three years ago... When you guys brought Jan there; my sister was fawning all over you."

Tomas smiled slightly.

"Oh... I remember now... That's nice..."

Crash felt that cold feeling spreading across him; there was something that Tomas was not telling him. Even after three years, that feeling wasn't settling.

"I didn't know you lived in the city." Crash said, trying to remain as pleasant as he could. I thought you lived in England."

"I do, but my parents have a penthouse here in Manhattan that I liked to frequent when I want to get away from everyone."

"Don't we all?" Sean said from behind.

Tomas ignored him.

"Anyway it's shocking that we haven't even bumped into each other, especially the things we both went through together. So I was thinking about you joining me for dinner with some of my friends this evening."

Crash shrugged.

"I don't really know... I have plans with Sean here."

"Crash I work later..."

"Shh..." Crash shushed, jabbing him in the ribs.

"Oh come on... I know we left uneasy feelings between us, but I like a chance for us to become friends."

Crash really wasn't sure if Tomas meant it or not, but then he figured that he should be polite.

"What time is dinner?" Crash asked.

The blonde male wrote down something on his napkin before handing it to him.

"These are the directions to my home with my address. Be there at eight pm."

"Sure..."

"We'll see you guys." Koga said before he and Tomas walked out of the Starbucks.

Later that afternoon Crash sat inside his room looking at the directions.

"I don't know, maybe I shouldn't go to that dinner party. Then again Tomas is making an effort to be friends. But on the other hand, those powers that he had, he never explained how he got them. Then again, it would be rude to just not go; I already told him that I would be there. Still..."

Crash heard a knocking on his door.

"Come in!" He called.

To his surprise, it was Milo.

"Milo... What are you doing here?" Crash asked.

"Holly called me and told me about what was going on, so I decided to come talk." He said, grinning.

"Ahh..."

The aussie sat down.

"So you were invited to a fancy dinner party?" Milo asked.

"Yeah..."

"And your having doubts about it?"

"Yes... But..."

"I think I know the exact reason why you have doubts."

"Thank you... I didn't think anyone..."

"You're nervous that you'll embarrass yourself."

Crash stared, dumbfounded.

"That's not..."

"Say no more, my friend. All you need to do is just be yourself and you'll be just fine."

"Milo..."

Oh Crash, don't worry; you'll be fine. I even brought you an outfit to wear."

"I don't think you're listening..."

Milo handed him the outfit.

"With these clothes that I got for you, you'll be to charm these high society people with finesse and charm."

Crash glared.

"Thank you..."

"Well I'm sorry this chat was short, but I have to get back to Australia. I'll see you later." He walked out the door.

"...For nothing." Crash muttered venomously under his breath.

He looked at the outfit in his hands.

"Sigh... I guess there is no way out of this, is there?"

Later in the evening, Crash was walking to Tomas' penthouse.

"Okay Crash, just keep your cool and just go with the flow and everything will be fine." He said soothingly to himself.

After walking several more blocks, Crash found himself infront of the building.

He walked inside before getting into the elevator and pushing the penthouse button.

Crash leaned against the wall as he tried to keep his cool. I mean what would be so bad about this evening?

The elevator reached the top floor as Crash walked to the door. Bracing himself he knocked.

The door opening revealing a man dressed in suit.

"Come in sir, and let me take your coat." The man said, ushering the bandicoot inside.

Crash walked in the main room to see numerous works of art decorated elaborately among the room. Some of the work looked to be thousands of years old.

"Where did he get of all this?" Crash asked.

"Tomas's family love to travel so and they like collecting artwork from where they visit."

"But some of this stuff looks like it's from ancient times..."

"The rest of the guest are in the lounge. You may go ahead and join them." The butler left.

Crash sighed quietly as he made his way to the lounge. When he entered, Hey saw about 20 other people sitting around and chatting. They all were in their twenties so it looked like Crash was the youngest.

"Crash old buddy, this is going to be one long night." He thought to himself.

Tomas entered the room looking at Crash.

"Ahh Crash... So glad you could make it." He said, smiling rather warmly at him.

Crash actually found himself relaxing.

"I told you I'd come didn't I?" The bandicoot said, giving him his goofy grin.

"Indeed." He turned his attention to the rest of his guest.

"Now that everyone is here, why don't we all go into the dining room for dinner."

Crash walked into the room with the other as he sat down at the seat that had his name written on a little card.

"Wow, this is classy." He chuckled to himself.

Tomas sat at the center before ringing a little.

"And now for the first course." He said.

Several servers set a covered plate infront of each person. Crash uncovered it to see a small bowl of green soup.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Split pea soup." The server said.

Crash began to slowly sip it as the other guest began conversing amongst themselves. After about 10 minutes when of the guests spoke up.

"You know I was reading the paper this morning and I read this interesting article about this terrorist group that labels itself as... The Syndicate."

"Who are the Syndicate... Who are they?" Another guest asked.

"I don't know but according to witness's, they that these members are dressed in black in white cloaks and their heads just peak out from under these little hoods that are shaped like predatory birds. And they are so pale, you would think they were the undead."

"You mean like vampires?"

"Not necessary, they don't look dead, but they don't look alive either. There eyes are said to be cold and hallow.

"What do they want?"

"Nobody knows... Nobody knows if they want to conquer or if they just to spread destruction."

Crash listened intently.

"Do they know of their origin?"

"No... But I heard there may be one rumor."

"What is it?"

"According to the rumor, there is supposed to be man that is thousands of years old that is controlling the Syndicate. He is said to be so powerful that he can't be killed and if one were to cut off limb or to try him, he would recover almost instantly."

Crash was stunned; there was someone out there that was possibly more powerful than either Aku Aku, Uka Uka, or the Elmentals?"

"Do they know what he looks like?" Crash asked.

"Nobody knows; hell they don't even know if that's true."

Tomas sighed.

"Well I'm sure here would put them in there place if they ever were to appear."

Crash grinned confidently.

"Of course I would. After all, nothing can get past me."

"I wouldn't count on that." Tomas muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Asked one of the guest closest to him.

"Nothing!" He said grinning sheepishly.

"All right then." The guest said.

It was almost midnight as the Crash sipped some coffee in the lounge with Tomas and Koga. All the guest had gone but Crash was enjoying the company and decided to stay and chat.

"Listen Crash, I'm sorry that things ending where they did after you defeated Cortex?"

"I'm sorry too; if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been to defeat the Elementals on my own. I really should have given you chance." Crash said. looking down his lap.

"I understand. It's just that I have a hard time opening up to people." The blonde said, quietly.

"I know the feeling..." Crash said, smiling shyly.

"But I hope we can become friends. You and I all are a lot alike; we both have gifts and talents that the world around us don't seem to understand."

"So that's why you don't talk about your powers?" Crash asked, feeling guilty.

"Now you know." Tomas said, looking away.

"I'm sorry." Crash said. "Can you forgive me for being so judgmental?"

"I think I can."

The bandicoot looked at the clock.

"It's already after midnight. I have to get home to bed; I promised Elkie I'd spend the day with her tomorrow."

"I can understand that." Tomas said.

"Just promise that the three of us plan to do something together real soon." Koga said.

Crash gave them his goofy grin.

"Don't worry; we'll do something together real soon."

Crash walked out of the room.

Tomas turned his gaze to the dark sky.

"So gentle, yet so naïve." He chuckled, wickedly.

Koga grinned, evilly.

"For a minute there, I thought he was going to question you about the Syndicate."

"I thought that myself, but my identity is still secret, for now."

"What if he finds out?"

"I don't mind if he finds out. What I'm looking forward to is when he discovers my little secret."

"No wonder that Cortex was able to manipulate so easily."

"And the poor child still doesn't know about dear little Coco. The look on his face when he learns that his friends knew what happened but never told. That will just be delightful."

"Just one problem..."

"I know. Aku Aku is still a problem. The little coward has been hiding out when he knows I'm around. I'm worried that he'll let Crash know of plans."

"So what will you do?"

"That's what I need you for..."

"Wha..."

"I need you to find out where that mask is. I want to know if he had any idea to what's going on; and if he does... keep him away from Crash at all costs."

Koga sighed.

"Yes sir."

"Leave me."

The boy was gone.

Tomas looked out the window.

"It's only a matter of time before this world is left only cold and barren, and then no can stop me."

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><p><strong>Read and Review<strong>


	5. Feeling Good

**I'm back with another chapter for you guys. Again there is no action, but this was such a fun chapter to write and I wanted to bring back the light hearted Bandicoot we all know and love. This chapter also introduces another new character. Other than that enjoy the chapter.**

**Also for this chapter, I strongly recommend listening to What a Feeling by Irene Cara.**

**Crash is not mine OC's are mine.**

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><p>chapter 4 Feeling Good<p>

Crash was sitting inside the school's dancing studio with Elkie. One of their friends, Charlotte, was practicing her dancing technique and she wanted Crash's second opinion.

Charlotte was spinning around quickly with her right foot resting against her knee and she continued the spin on the ball of her left foot. Then she ended the spin by running and twirling in the air before striking her ending pose.

"So what do you think?" She asked, breathing heavily.

Crash was impressed with her dancing, but he felt something was missing.

"It was great, but you're missing something." He said.

Charlotte frowned.

"Crash the competition is Saturday and it's Tuesday; and I've been practicing for three months already! What could I possibly fix in four days?!"

Crash smiled gently, approaching her.

"No, no, not changing your sequence; what I mean is your sequence is very stiff. You definitely need to stick with everything you learned, but let go and have fun with it."

"That's sound easier than done. I feel if I have to much fun, I'll screw up" Charlotte sighed, running her hand through her Peter Pan haircut.

"I may not be much of dancer, but I'll show you what I mean."

Crash walked over to the radio; popping in a cd and pressing some buttons.

The song began to play.

Crash took off his shoes before walking to his friend.

"When you do your spins, why you try starting out the way you did but once in a while try extending your leg into a kick."

Crash demonstrated by doing his spin and every other turn began extending his raised his leg into a kick.

"Try it." Crash said, stopping to breathe.

Charlotte began to repeat her technique; only now she extended her leg every other turn. She laughed as she felt the freedom in the movement.

"How did it feel?" Crash grinned.

"It felt great!" The petite dancer grinned.

"Now that I showed you something to spice up your dance, let me show you a little something to give you confidence."

Crash began dancing moving all around the studio. His dancing was just freestyle but the way he moved was so free and natural. He didn't even realize that he was using his natural abilities when he was on one of his adventures. Crash felt his body move freely; he may have not been a dancer like Charlotte, but he didn't care, he was just having fun with his friends.

Charlotte laughed and clapped her hands. Crash was giving her the confidence to break free with her dance and make it better but still fun.

Elkie laughed as she tapped her foot to the music. In her mind she could picture the carefree bandicoot dancing. It brought a happy smile to her face.

Crash the slid to the floor before break dancing on the floor moving so quickly but with such agile. Charlotte eyes were wide.

"Crash you're really good! Are you sure you're not a dancer?" She asked, thinking the bandicoot had to be being modest.

The bandicoot blushed.

"No... I mean like dancing, but nowhere near as good as you. You told me you've been dancing since you were three."

"But I can't do that. You're really talented!" She said, smiling.

"It's just dumb luck." Crash said, unsure of himself.

Charlotte take his hand and led him to the center of the floor.

"Try following what I do; but we'll do what you said."

The two began the technique starting off soft and uniform but slowly going into the free flowing movement.

Charlotte now felt more and more confident about the dance competition. She now had the spice that Crash said she needed. She turned to see Crash copying the dance; his movement was almost exactly on cue with hers. Whether Crash was confident to admit or not, he was naturally talented.

"How does the technique feel?" Charlotte asked.

"It feels like I've done it many times."

"And how do you feel?"

Crash was surprised by that question; he really hadn't thought about it that much. He felt himself feeling slightly better when he started spending more time with Elkie. But it wasn't till today that he realized it; he felt like the old Crash Bandicoot again. He hadn't felt this way since he was back on the islands. He was stuck on the grey but Elkie had brought him back to life.

"Crash old buddy, it's good to have you back." He said to himself. He then turned to Charlotte and Elkie before he felt his all too familiar goofy grin form on his face.

"I FEEL GREAT!" He screamed before spinning Charlotte in the air as she laughed, her cheeks red.

Elkie smiled.

"There's the Crash Bandicoot that came to my aid."

The two finished the technique before they both began to frees styling. Crash never felt so much relief and freedom in so long; and no words could describe how good that felt to him. For the first time in 3 years, he felt completely free.

Crash continued dancing when ran over to Elkie, pulling her up.

"Dance with me!" He cried, spinning her around in circles.

Elkie couldn't help but burst into fits laughter as she let Crash guide her. She never really had a lot of friends back in Norway, but even then she never had a friend like Crash. When she was with him, her heart always fluttered and it was nice. She never wanted the fluttering to stop; not even for a minute.

"You're a good dancer to, Elkie." Charlotte called to her.

"Thank you." The blind girl blushed.

Crash looked out the window to see the sun shining brightly.

"What do you guys say that we finish helping Charlotte practice outside?" He asked.

"Where would we practice?" Elkie asked.

Crash thought before he grinned.

"We can practice on the rooftop of my apartment. The top floor is empty, so no would hear us. It's too nice of a day to stay inside all day."

The girls smiled.

"I say let's do it!" Charlotte cheered.

"Me too!" Elkie cried.

The three grabbed their things before running out of the studio and into the busy sidewalk. The three of them were running and twirling without a care in the world. They were all having fun and didn't want the feeling to end, especially Crash. He felt great and would make it last for as long as he could.

He looked at Elkie who was holding his hand as he guided her. He didn't realize till now that he was starting to develop feelings for her; and he vowed this time he would not make the same mistake with Elkie that he did with Jan. After all, miracles did happen.

Off in the corner, Aku Aku could see his surrogate son running off with his friends. The kind mask couldn't help but smile.

"Crash, it's good to have you back."

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><p><strong>I loved making this a feel chapter as I really haven't written one in a long time. Plus I wanted to make this chapter extra fun as the next chapter is going to be rather dark. Until then Read Review or PM. DUECES!<strong>


	6. Garden of Shadows

**It's time for another chapter. This one is much darker and is start introducing the syndicate. Be sure pay attention to this chapter as it's going what's possibly going happen in the next fic; as well as future events**

**As also for this chapter I strongly recommend listening the opening theme from The Shining the 1980 version.**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine.**

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><p>Chapter 5 Garden of Shadows<p>

The hospital's halls were as silent as the dead as the nighttime was nothing but silence. Just the way Nurse Renner enjoyed it; which was probably why she enjoyed working the graveyard shift more.

Ever since she moved back to the States, she dove into as much work as she could. It kept her mind off things and she felt she didn't have to feel any emotional pain that she did ever since the divorce.

Which is exactly why she came home; she didn't have anything left in Norway, plus Elkie felt like she never fitted in with her peers, being blind and all.

Nurse Renner walked down the darkened halls checking in all the rooms to see if any of the patients needed her. So far everything seemed normal as usual.

The woman sighed as she walked back to the main desk and poured herself another cup of coffee.

Okay so there was one thing that was a drawback to working the graveyard shift. The halls sometimes seemed a little to empty. The feeling could sometimes be so eerie, you would sometimes think that someone was hiding deep within the shadows.

Nurse Renner scanned the surveillance to see if anything suspicious was lurking on the screen, but everything was clear.

"I love quiet nights, but tonight is like death, something has to be up." She thought to herself.

Grabbing her coffee mug, she made another round around the halls to see if anything was up.

Again, everything was fine.

"Sigh... I really need to start cutting back on the coffee; I think it's starting to mess with my brain."

After another slow drawing hour of scanning the halls, Nurse Renner decided to head back to her desk for a while.

She propped her legs on the desk before flipping through one of her Game of Thrones novels to pick up where she left off. Then she set the radio on low volume to a late night talk show for a little noise.

Nurse Renner had spent the last four years working almost around the clock. People always told her it was not the best thing for her as she got very little sleep, but when she didn't work, she sit at home and cry. So she worked; she worked so she wouldn't have to go home and face the cold reality that her ex husband didn't want her anymore.

She had gotten into angry arguments with her father that she worked so much that she barely spent anytime with Elkie anymore. Nurse Renner felt horrible about that; she burying herself in work so she didn't have to face reality. Making it look like she didn't want to deal with her own daughter; but she loved her daughter dearly. She laughed bitterly.

"I failed my own daughter; what kind of mother am I?" She would think to herself. "Elkie doesn't deserve me; she deserves better. I'm just a miserable woman who doesn't want to deal with her problems.

She even could remember her manager begging her early that afternoon to take some time off.

" You work almost everyday, and three nights a week you work a full 24 hours. You need to cut back, Christy; you're working yourself into the ground! You really need to take a couple weeks off!" He had told her.

And like always she would just nod and then go back to work.

She knew things had to change, but she was to afraid to make them.

She was interrupted from her reading when a little girl, who had to have been no older than five, running down the halls in a frightened haste.

Nurse Renner immediately put down her book and ran to her.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing out of bed?" She ordered, gently.

"There's a woman in my room! She was standing over my bed!" She whimpered.

"But I was just passed the wing not even ten minutes ago. I saw no one there." The nurse said, confused.

"But she was there! I saw her!"

Nurse Renner took her hand.

"Let's go and see."

The two headed back to the children's wing and went to the little girl's room. When they went inside, nobody was there.

"There's nobody here, sweetie." Nurse Renner said, assuredly.

"She was right there!" The little girl cried, pointing to the foot of the bed.

"You must of have a bad dream; now let's get you back in bed."

The nurse pulled the covers over the little girl and gave her, her stuffed teddy bear.

"But she'll be back!" She cried, tears welling in her eyes. "She'll come back and kill me!'

"Nobody is going to kill you..." Nurse Renner laughed. "I'll do another walk around the halls and make sure no ones here. I'll be back in 20 minutes to check on you. Okay?"

The little girl nodded before pulling the covers over her head.

Nurse Renner walked out back into the halls; making sure to thoroughly scan every corner she came across. Like the last the few times however, she saw nobody, it was nothing but silence.

She continued to finish her patrol around the last few halls. Only she walked down the last few halls however, she could see a teenage boy sitting deep within the darkened corner. Giving her the assumption that he must have left his room too.

She began to running to him.

"You can't be out in the halls now. Please go back to your..."

She stopped dead in her tracks when she a close view of the boy.

His skin was a pale as marble and was dressed in a clock that had a hood in the shape of a deadly looking bird. What stood out the most however was his eyes; they were as glassy as the eyes of a person that was nearing death.

Nurse Renner felt her body start to run cold.

"Are you all right?" She asked, not sure what to do.

"My mother and father saved my brothers, but they didn't save me. They left me to die in a fire. Why did they forget about me?" He asked her, sounding very dull.

"But you're not dead... You're right here in flesh and..." Nurse Renner drew her hand to touch him, but quickly recoiled when she felt how could he felt. His body temperature was anything but normal.

"How did you get in here?!" She demanded, her voice very low and frightened.

"Why did you abandon me, mother? Was I not good enough for you?" He droned.

"I'm not your mother!" She cried. "I never met you before in my life!"

The boy stood up, giving her a creepy smile.

"I'm going to kill you, mother. The walls will run red with your blood." He lunged.

Nurse Renner screamed as she took off down the halls. She ran back to the main desk to grab her letter opener. She peaked her head out to see if he followed her, but he wasn't there.

"Okay Christy, just stay calm. Your just tired and your mind's playing tricks on you. Nobody's trying to kill you."

Her heart started pounding when she heard the little girl screaming.

Bringing the letter opener, she took off running. She immediately burst into the room and wasn't prepared for what was to greet her.

The little girl had spoken the truth; there was a woman standing over her bed.

The woman was very beautiful but very pale. Her hair was very dark with tints of red shining in it. Her clock was open, showing off a form fitting white dress; and her hood gave her the deadly bird appearance.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN HERE?!" Nurse Renner screamed.

The woman just stared at her before turning back to the little girl.

"Why wouldn't you turn around and face me?" She demanded.

The little girl sobbed and closed her eyes.

"Why wouldn't you say goodbye to me?" She demanded. "Why did you have to be a spiteful daughter?"

"You're not my mommy!" She sobbed. "You don't look anything like her!"

"LOOK AT ME!" The woman screamed, moving in to rip her to shreds.

"NO!" Nurse Renner screamed, throwing the woman into the wall.

The woman looked at the nurse with murderous eyes.

"You never liked me, did you Emmy?!" The woman hissed like a wild animal. "You were jealous that your brother had the better spouse while yours was cold and unfeeling!"

"I don't know what you're talking about! My name's Christy!" She said, trying to stay calm.

"I'm going to end it all for you, Emmy! Then you'll have nothing but your misery and your vodka!"

The woman then attempted to lunge at Nurse Renner who immediately bolted out of the room. Only to be greeted by more cloaked figures.; and to her complete horror, most of them looked very young with the older ones looking no older than 30; like they had died at too young of an age. All of them looked at her like they wanted to brutally murder her.

The frightened nurse tried to reason with them.

"None of you want to hurt me." She said as calm as possible. "You're all just a very bad nightmare."

The figures stared intently at her.

"Get her!" One cried.

She screamed and began running down the halls. As she ran she pulled the emergency alarm, only nothing happened. It looked like no help was coming.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She screamed in terror.

She tried to make her to the security station when she saw stopped dead in her tracks. About 30 feet in front of her was a man.

He was dressed in a black suit that was covered by a thick black cloak. His blond hair and blue eyes seemed to radiate in the darkness.

"Oh thank God that you're here!" There's intruders in the hospital!"

"I know." He stated, calmly and giving her an odd smile.

"You have to help me! These intruders tried to kill me and I have no idea what they are!"

"They are my children." He simply said.

Nurse Renner looked dumbfounded.

"How can they be your children? You're very young yourself"

He started coming towards her.

"That's not exactly what I meant. I meant was that I created them; in that sense I would be their father."

"That doesn't make any sense..."

"I may look youthful, but I can assure that I have been alive for a very long time."

"How long?" She asked, actually finding herself believing him.

The man frowned at her comment.

"Let's just say I'm much older than you."

"Well why did you send them after me! AND WHAT ARE THEY?!"

"I've used my powers to keep them alive or to resurrect them. In return they are to spend the rest of eternity as my slaves; with death as the only way out."

"What are you? A demon?"

The man chuckled.

"You could say that; after all, I was never truly human."

"What do you want with me?! I never did anything!" Nurse Renner demanded.

The man continued to laugh.

"You can relax, madam. I have no intentions of killing you... But I wanted to give you a message."

"What kind of message?" She asked, staying on guard.

"Only that you must tell your daughter that the end is near."

"Why?! What do you want from my baby?!"

"Nothing from her exactly, more so from her friend."

"But Elkie has a large number of friends. How could I possibly know which one?"

"One of them is not like the rest... He stands oh so well."

That's when realized...

"Crash... What do you want from him?!"

"His still beating heart in the palm of my hand."

"That's not happening; not when I let the police know about you."

The man surprisingly laughed at her comment.

"Go ahead, tell them all you want about me. They're not going to believe you."

"Of course they will! There's video footage of you and your brethren roaming all around the halls!"

"Tsk...tsk...tsk... About that... I took the liberty of shutting off the security cameras before I sent my minions out into the halls. As far as the police will be concerned, they think you shut them off in a delirious state of mind; they are more than well aware of severe lack of sleep."

Nurse Renner was about to retort when she realized, he was right.

"I think it's time you got off your feet." The man said, his voice was oddly soothing.

A blue mist began to form in his hand. The nurse just stared, unnerved.

"What the hell are you doing?!" She demanded, angrily.

He smiled sweetly at her.

"I'm only trying to relax you."

"What do you..."

She was cut when he gently blew the blue mist on her. She was about to demanded what he had done to her when she felt her legs unable to support the weight of her body. Causing her to fall to the ground, and was barely able to keep her eyes open.

She looked weakly at him as he smiled eerily at her.

"Rest now... Just be sure to have your daughter pass my message to Crash for me. Otherwise Crash will die sooner than she'll want him to do."

The man began to walk away. Nurse Renner tried to call out, but the spell that was put upon her, and the severe lack of rest unwillingly brought her into the comforting world of sleep.

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><p><strong>Read and Review<strong>


	7. The Line Between Planes

**I'm back with the next chapter and it appears that Crash is in trouble. So what will happen next?**

**Also for the is chapter, I strongly recommend to the main theme from the Halloween Franchise.**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>Chapter 6 The Line Between Planes<p>

Crash was asleep in his bed when was he startled awake by the sounds of someone rattling on his window sill.

He was about to go and yell at however was doing that when he saw one of the cloaked figures staring blankly at him through the glass. He immediately stopped in his tracks looking deep into their eyes.

Just like how one of the dinner guest's described, the eyes was were nothing but cold and hollow.

"You're one of them! You're one of the syndicate!" He growled.

The cloaked being rammed their fist into the window, shattering it into thousands of pieces. When the glass was free the figure easily climbed through the window.

"I have found you, Crash Bandicoot." The voice was male.

"What do you want?!" Crash demanded.

The figure smiled eerily.

"We have been ordered to find you and bring to our master, alive."

"I don't understand... What does he want with me?"

The figure slowly started walking toward him.

"You never realized it?" He asked.

"Realized what?" Crash responded.

"Master has been watching you... He always has been watching you; ever since it all began. You are a threat to him, Crash Bandicoot. We will not stop hunting you until we catch you."

Crash felt rather frightened; he had no idea who or where this man that was controlling this monstrosities was. He could be somewhere on the other side of country, hell he could be in the apartment at this very moment. Wherever he may have been, Crash knew that his every step was no longer safe; now that he thought about it, they never really were. He wouldn't crack though, he would stay strong and fight this threat no matter what the outcome would be.

The bandicoot grinned confidently at the young man.

"You may know my every single move, but that doesn't mean I will break; it will just give the courage to become stronger! I will not let you break me! I've come too far to let that happened again!" He cried.

The cloaked figure spread his hands, grabbing each side of his cloak.

"Now... You will be nothing but a bloody pulp!"

The male began flapping his arms and the cloak merged with his arms becoming sharp feathered wings. The older boy's face shifted to resemble a hollow looking doll. Now it was a half human half bird beast.

"What the fuck?!" Crash whimpered, the creature's image was so disturbing.

Before the bandicoot could develop another reaction, the creature charged toward him.

He tried in vain to run to the door, but the creature was far too fast, and trapped him into the corner with nowhere to run.

The hybrid was screeching like a predatory bird as it began to flap it's sharp feathered wings against the bandicoot; easily cutting through his flesh.

Crash screamed in surprise and pain, forcing himself to hold up his arms to prevent the feathers from hitting his head or slashing his stomach open. A part of him was almost convinced he was going to die.

He tried to fight back or at least move out of the way; but the creature flesh it's sharp teeth or dig the feathers deeper into his wounds. Leaving the bandicoot to only cower into corner and left to wait to an opening came, or if help decided to come.

Meanwhile, Tomas was telepathically watching the attack; a malicious smile forming across his face.

"I didn't think that I would be able to come after you so easily; then again, you always are caught off guard in the sight of an attack."

He continued to watch as he saw that his monstrous creation might actually take the bandicoot out right then and there. While he did want Crash to be killed as soon as possible, he wanted to be the one to kill the teenage bandicoot himself.

He began calling telepathically to the creature.

"_Enough of this attack, my child. You have weakened him quite enough. Now bring him back to me." _

The creature almost immediately reverted back to it's human form, letting Crash slump to the ground.

"How pathetic, the world's most strongest hero, is nothing more than a cowering child." The male scoffed.

Crash tried to stand himself back up, but the pain forced him to fall over again.

He grinned weakly.

"You just set me back is all. I'll be escape your master the minute you bring me to him.

The clocked figure was about to grab the bandicoot when he started to hear loud banging on the bedroom door.

"CRASH ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!" Holly could be heard screaming.

"CRASH OPEN THE DOOR!" Sean screamed, sounding just as horrified.

Crash looked at the door the determination; he had to get out.

With a loud grunt of pain, the bandicoot started making his way to the door.

The figure slowly began to follow him, starting to raise arm and cloak was again. He was preparing to transform.

Crash breathed heavily; if that happened, he was probably not going to make out the door.

"Get away from the door..." He said. "Or I will transform."

The bandicoot just stared hatefully at the being.

"CRASH I'M BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR!" Sean screamed.

Crash really did not want that to happen, so he decided to take the gamble.

"VERY WELL!" The figure began to flap his arms until the reverted back to wings and his face reverted to its doll like appearance.

Slamming was heard on the opposite side of the door.

Crash attempted to stand on his legs when he felt the creature knock him to the ground, nearly gashing his face as well.

"_Prepare to die, Crash Bandicoot!" _It seemed to be screeching, well at least to the boy anyway.

As it was about to swoop on, the door was knocked off it's hinges bringing Sean and Holy into the room.

"GET AWAY FROM OUR FRIEND, YOU FREAK!" Holly screamed.

The creature took it's attention away from the bandicoot; staring with deep intent at the two older humans.

It's sharp teeth forming into a snarl.

Sean cocked the gun he was holding in his hands.

"Come any closer, and I'll shoot you!" He threatened.

The creature looked intently at them, deciding whether or not to make another move, or to flee out the window. If he attacked the bandicoot he would be shot; but if he attacked the two humans, he would still get shot. He would get attacked no matter what he did, but he couldn't go home empty handed. The creature snarled. He would make one final attempt to grabbing the bandicoot, no matter what it took.

It let out of a frightening scream before charging. Sean screamed as well before firing four rounds at the creature, forcing it back in pain.

Blood dripped from the wounds; it was no longer in the condition to fight anymore; but it's eyes were filled with but rage.

The creature attempted to lunge one last time before Crash, who had to developed a new feeling of strength within him, charged toward the creature and sending it out the window.

The creature let a piercing fall before disappearing into the darkness, and the sound of flapping died away.

Sean walked over to the window, looking out.

"Is it dead?" He asked.

"No... He flew away." Crash sighed.

"Well it's gone..."

"For now..."

"Crash?" Holly asked.

"It will back; in fact hundreds more may even join him. They're after me you guys; and they won't stop until they have me in there talons."

"But... What are they?" Holly demanded.

Crash sighed to himself as he walked to kitchen and began to clean off his wounds.

His two friends had followed him, looking frightened.

"Crash, what's going on?!" Sean demanded.

Crash looked gravely at them.

"I don't even understand; I only just heard about these creatures when I was at Tomas' dinner party." He said.

"But why are they after you?!" Holly asked, her voice tiny.

Crash was about to say something when he heard pounding at the door.

The three jumped back in fright; for all they knew it could just be another one of those creatures.

"Who is it?" Crash called.

"It's Charlotte! Let me in!" The voice called.

Crash unlocked the door to see Charlotte standing there in her pajamas. Her face pale and twisted in fear.

"Charlotte what's wrong?" Crash asked.

"So you saw those birdlike creatures too?" She asked.

"You too?!" Crash asked stunned.

"I saw them flying outside my window; I came here when I saw one of them flying towards your apartment. Although it looks like it managed to attack you."

"We scared it away. though." Said Holly.

"There's more of them out and about?" Crash asked.

"Yes! And they seem to be flocking over to the hospital; but the police have not gone there at all!"

Crash glared.

"I have to go there; something must be up."

"He grabbed his sweatshirt.

"I'll come with you!" Charlotte cried.

"Fine, but we have to hurry!"

"We'll come too!" Sean cried.

"You and Holly stay here; call Brio and ask to see if he know anything about these creatures. I'll be back as soon as I can."

The two were about were about to protest, but then only sighed in agreement.

"Let's go!" He cried as he and Charlotte took off running towards the hospital.

Tomas, who had seen everything, felt his face twist in anger.

"That bloody little swine; how dare he attack one of my creations! I will make him pay for what he did!"

_"Come on Charlotte, we need to get to the hospital; maybe the source of what is controlling these abominations is there as well and going to give a challenge it's never seen before!" _Crash could be heard.

Tomas looked rather surprised by the bandicoot's confident façade until a rather sly grin began to form on his face.

"So you want a challenge, do you?"

His body began to be surrounded by a blue aura.

"Then a challenge is what I'll give you..."

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger! Find out how it play out in the next chapter. Until then...DUECES!<strong>


	8. Down the Rabbit Hole

**I finally managed to squeeze out this bitch and bear in mind this chapter is rather long and the next one is going to be lengthy as well. This chapter is also rather disturbing; and I really hope you all like this chapter because I really liked how this came out.**

**Also for this chapter listen to the following:**

**Surrender:**

**Lies:**

**Where Will You Go: All three by Evanescence**

**Other than that Enjoy the chapter**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine.**

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><p>Chapter 7 Down the Rabbit Hole<p>

The hospital halls were almost pitch black when Crash and Charlotte inside and the air felt almost like ice.

"Where's everybody?" Charlotte asked, looking around the darkened halls.

"Nobody's insight and that's not a good sign. Either everyone has evacuated; but that doesn't sit right as it would've made the news. Or everyone is a trance and have been locked in there rooms unaware of what's going on." Crash answered, frowning.

"I'm gonna go with the latter on this one. You?"

"It's stomach twisting but yes, there probably is a supernatural force at work here?"

The very dim lights began to flicker as a rough rattling sounded around them. The two teens felt their blood start to run cold.

"What was that?!" Charlotte whispered.

"Whatever it was, it sounded huge. We better go look for it."

"By ourselves?!" The female whispered, incredulous.

"Nobody is going to be coming either till morning, or we run whatever this thing that roaming the halls out of here. Are you going to help me or not?"

Charlotte stared down at the floor before breathing deeply.

"I'll regret it if I don't." She sighed.

Crash smiled.

"Thank you. Now that we settled that, I think we should head up the stairs and start looking on the upper floors."

"Why upstairs?"

"Judging by the directions the sound came from, I would believe that's probably this thing is."

The two turned towards the directions of the stairway. All could be seen was nothing but the darkness that was just tempting them to walk through.

The bandicoot looked at the door before glaring.

"You ready to go?" He asked his friend.

Charlotte breathed deeply.

"Do we have much of a choice?"

Slowly, the two made their way inside the stairway; nothing but black could be seen around them. Crash reached his hand out to find the exactly location of the stairs; after feeling around for around 30 seconds, he felt the stairs that would lead them up.

"I found the way the up." Crash whispered. "Hang onto my jacket, and we should be fine."

"All right." Charlotte whispered.

Crash began to slowly begin the climb up the stairs; one thing he couldn't help but think about wasn't about what this syndicate was or anything that may have transpired throughout the five years of his existence; technically four since he had lost a year due to his coma. No what really bothered was the thought; was he better now, or would he have been better off as Cortex's general?

It was definitely true that Crash hated Cortex with every fiber of his being; he was after all the sole reason why Jan decided to leave Crash in the first place. However Crash had this nagging in the back of his mind that would he have felt any release if he remained with his mortal enemy. Granted he would have no mind of his own and would be compelled to do anything his nemesis wanted; but would that have been better than to fall all of this? Feeling different from everyone else in the crowd, and not being able to be with the one you love because of the laws of nature?

The bandicoot was taken out of his train of thought when he heard the rattling sound right above as the light fixtures began to shake violently.

Crash frowned above.

"It's just above us! Let's hurry before it scurries off again!"

Crash quickly raced up the final steps when he noticed the opened door that would lead them into the back into the hallway; and from the looks of it, it seemed just as dark as the hallway.

"Is it in the hallway?' Charlotte asked from behind.

"In the hallway or in one of the rooms; and that's not going to be good if it's in a patient's room."

Charlotte carefully walked to the door and peaked her head out slightly to see if the coast was clear. From what she saw the halls were clear, for now.

"There's nothing out there. So I would assume it's clear for the moment." She said turning back to the bandicoot.

The two slowly inched their way out into the hallway looking around to see if anything was hiding in the darkened shadows.

Crash looked over to see one of the doors looked like it would lead to a patient's room. Crash tried to peak through the window only to find that nothing but black could be inside. He tried opening the door only to find that it was locked. There was no way he could get inside and it was very likely that the patient inside wouldn't be able to get out.

The bandicoot tried pounding on the door and screamed to get anyone's attention only it seemed that whoever was inside was probably in a trance.

"Crash it's useless; you're never going to get a response from anyone. Let's just keep looking elsewhere." Charlotte called to him.

Crash started to walk backwards when he felt himself step into something.

"Crap! Something got on my shoe." He groaned.

He tried to pull his foot up but found the substance was rather thick.

Charlotte bent down to help when she felt the substance on her hands. She felt her body shook violently from disgust.

"What's the matter?" Crash asked.

"This is...slime that... must have come from an animal!" She whimpered, trying to get off her hand.

"Is that good or bad?" Crash asked nervously.

"Definitely not good..."

"Just help me get free before whatever this thing is hears us and decides to come back and kill us both!" Crash cried.

Charlotte grabbed hold of Crash and carefully tried to pry the bandicoot out the slime. The shoe was fitted so good that it seemed impossible that the shoe was going to break free.

"I can't get it lose; you're going to have to leave your shoe in there." She concluded.

Crash glared.

"No way! I paid almost 70 bucks for these shoes! There's no way in hell I'm about to leave them here!"

"Well it's that or we die."

"Try pulling one more time."

Charlotte was about to protest until she decided to just give in to the bandicoot's request.

She roughly began to pull him and sure enough the shoe slowly began to break free.

"On the three, yank me back." The bandicoot said.

"Fine..."

"One... Two... THREE!" Charlotte yanked the bandicoot back with full force sending flying to the floor; shoe and all.

Crash breathed a sigh relief as the two started to collect there bearings.

"My beautiful shoe, you're safe." He said, grinning goofily. "That was a close one wasn't that... Charlotte...?

Crash stopped himself when he noticed the short haired female looking off into the distance in horror.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

The girl only whimpered as she frighteningly pointed her finger to where she was staring.

Crash turned to see to what looked like an enormous reptilian creature hiding deep within in the shadows. It's eyes glowed ominously towards them and it's serpentine body was as thick as the trunk of a large oak tree and the tip of it's tail was what looked like rattle. There were staring at an unnaturally large rattlesnake.

Crash felt couldn't help but a sense of deja vu; it was almost like that time back when he was helping Cortex collect the crystals when he had the altercation with the unnaturally large polar bear.

"I think that's poisonous." Crash said, smiling nervously.

"You think, moron?!" Charlotte asked, stunned. "... I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." Crash cringed.

"Maybe if we walk away real carefully, he won't move."

Crash looked at the serpent; there was something rather familiar about the creature, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"I don't know; I think he wants us to make the first move. Something in those eyes say that this creature is really intelligent and is just playing with us."

"What are we going to do?! That thing is going to pounce the second we try to make a break for it; and we can't stay in this spot forever!"

Crash looked towards the stairway, then at Charlotte, then at the creature. He knew they were going to get pounced no matter what they did. They had no other choice but to try and make a break for the door.

"We don't have a choice, we're going to have to try." He breathed, heavily.

"Crash I'm scared." Charlotte whimpered.

"So am I Charlotte... So am I."

The bandicoot looked towards the door one more time.

"RUN!" He screamed.

The two without even thinking about it ran as fast as they could to do the door. They weren't even five feet away when the sound of the door slamming and locking loudly rang around them.

Crash got to the door and tried prying it open anyway; but it didn't much of a difference at all, they were trapped.

He slowly turned back to the snake to see it had some kind of smirk on it's face. Making the bandicoot more and more unsettled.

"CRASH!?"

"Were locked in!" He said, smiling in very pathetic manner.

The girl stared back at the reptile with a look of rage in her eyes.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed.

The creature remained still.

The sound of someone groaning then could be heard from behind.

Crash looked behind the reptile to see what looked liken a woman lying on the ground. She was dressed in sea green scrubs giving the safe assumptions that she worked there.

"There's a woman." Charlotte said, shocked.

"We got to help her." Crash sighed.

They noticed the woman was starting to slowly raise up her head when she seemed to notice the enormous creature standing just above her.

The woman let out a frightened sob as the two teens recognized who the woman was.

"Nurse Renner?!" Charlotte gasped.

Nurse Renner carefully turned her head towards the two.

"Help isn't coming; they sabotaged the security cameras and the alarms! Nobody knows they are here! He wanted you to come here Crash! He wanted to kill you!"

Crash tried to swallow a frightened sob of his own before he regained composure.

"Nurse Renner... I don't understand."

"Nightmares... Nightmares are what lurk in their world Crash... They prey off your energy... He knows of your hate for Dr. Cortex... And when Jan broke your heart... He knows everything... He always did... He was always your shadow!"

"Nurse Renner... What are you talking about?!" Crash demanded.

"He's going to cover the world in darkness; and nobody can stop him!" The woman sobbed.

Charlotte started sobbing, covering her ears to block out her words.

"NURSE RENNER WAKE UP! YOU'RE UNDER A TRANCE!" Crash screamed.

The nurse tried to crawl toward them before the blue mist seemed to appear around the serpent.

"NO! I WILL NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP! She screamed.

Crash started to run towards her.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" He snarled.

However, the serpent sent a stream of blue energy of the bandicoot, knocking him into the wall. Crash groaned as he tried to regain composure.

The reptile turned his attention back to Nurse Renner before gently blowing the mist back toward her; and within a matter of seconds she was out cold.

Charlotte ran towards the bandicoot.

"CRASH! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!?" She screamed.

Crash tried to pull himself up as he rubbed his head.

"That blue mist seemed to knock her out; and that blue stream seemed so familiar. I wonder if..."

Crash felt his blood freeze when everything finally started to come together.

He stood up; his eyes forming into a menacing glare.

"Crash...?" Charlotte asked.

Crash slowly walked towards the reptile. His eyes fuming and his muzzle unnaturally pale.

"Crash...?" Charlotte asked again.

Crash just stopped in front of the creature.

"Say something!" He ordered.

Silence.

"Say something... I know you can!"

The creature slowly slithered towards him before laughing.

"Clever little boy; you're not as brainless as I thought you were." He said, amused.

"Tomas.. I trusted you!"

"That's exactly what your weakness is Crash; you're to trusting and your impulsiveness. They always got you in trouble."

"And you knew... You knew everything!"

"I knew you even before you knew yourself."

Crash felt his body cringe.

Tomas slowly began to circle him.

"Come on Crash, you are used to this supernatural world already. Think about; the elementals Uka Uka, and that little weakling that seem to look towards as a father."

"Leave Aku Aku out of this! He has nothing do with what's going on!" Crash snarled.

Tomas scoffed.

"That's so typical of you Crash; you never question the world that is around you. You simply remain blissfully unaware."

"That's not true! I've taken things into stride for all the years I have existed!"

"Then if you have taken things into stride, why did you seem withdraw from the world when Jan left you?"

Crash felt the fire that he hadn't felt since the Time Twister incident starting to blare.

The reptile smiled casually.

"I think you already know the answer to that, child."

"Jan was right; she did bring out the worst in me. That's why she left; she didn't want to do that to me anymore. Jan... I understand what you meant now... I'm so sorry..."

Charlotte stood completely still.

"So you plan to psychologically torment Crash for your own amusement so you can physically kill him?!" She demanded.

Tomas turned his attention towards her.

"That's right, bastard! Look at me!" She snarled.

He chuckled as he used his rattle to gently glide along her lower leg.

"Such a determined little thing; I can tell within your core how frightened you, but you still will stand your ground regardless. Such an admirable trait. You actually remind of someone I met once several years ago."

"Please tell me who; I can't wait to know!" Charlotte responded with pure sarcasm.

"She was a little girl; now that I remember properly, she was a marsupial as well.

This got Crash's attention.

"Coco..." He whispered.

"Well... What happened to her?! Did she put you in your place or not?!" The human demanded.

Tomas giggled.

"Hah! That's funny! She didn't even have a prayer. All her and her little friends could do was runaway from me."

"Milo... Linda..." He whispered.

"The other little girl tripped on the ground; and she was right within my sights, so I decided to aim for her; I also knew that the little one would come to her aid. It worked exactly the way I wanted it to. She died in the other girl's arms; begging them to never tell her brother the truth about happened. I'm pretty sure he still doesn't know where she is!" Tomas started laughing as if it were a joke.

Crash's eyes went wide with rage before he slammed into the reptile sending him smashing into the wall.

"YOU MURDERED MY SISTER?! IN COLD BLOOD?! SHE WAS JUST A KID! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Crash sobbed.

Tomas reverted back to his human form before dusting off his jacket, and spitting up some blood.

"You still don't understand, do you?" He asked.

"WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY NOT UNDERSTAND?!" The bandicoot screamed.

"You and I are not so different; we both have powers that nobody can explain. We defy the laws of nature; it's a shame you never really embraced what you really are. Like that scientist had said: you would have been a wonderful general."

"And what?! Become a monster like you?!" Crash growled, lowly.

"I'm only doing what I think is best for humanity's sake. One only knows what they could possibly do to themselves within the next 100 years or so." Tomas sighed.

Crash just cringed when he saw the male's eyes darkened.

"And I'm going to make absolutely sure that you don't fuck it up!" He growled.

Crash grinned angrily.

"Hah! Says you! I've defeated Cortex four times already! What makes you think you have a chance?!"

A dark red light seemed to turn on revealing all the other cloaked creatures standing behind their master; nothing but emptiness filled their eyes.

"My children and I have survived for thousands years. We have seen the times change, the technology grow and the views change. I have survived through it all, child; but humanity will not survive me... AND NEITHER WILL YOU!"

Tomas extended his hand out signaling the figures to attack.

The figures began to lunge. Crash posed ready to fight when he felt Charlotte grab him.

"Crash you can't take them on; we have to get out of here!"

The bandicoot wanted to protest to this so badly, but deep down he knew she was right. he growled before grabbing Nurse Renner and bolting down the stairway.

The Syndicate members all let out unnatural shrieks before taking off after them. Leaving Tomas alone in the darkened hallway.

His body and his eyes began to glow once again as began to transform into the snake.

"No Crash... Not this time..."

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><p><strong>And after how long this chapter is, I still end on cliffhanger. Next chapter or the one after will start to wrap everything up. Also I have a poll going on, so head over to my profile page and check it out. Stay tuned.<strong>


	9. The Light at the End of Tunnel

**Well everybody here's the next chapter. Telling you guys now that this chapter is rather long, but it brings everything together with it's climax which is also the climax for this fic. So sit back and enjoy.**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine.**

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><p>Chapter 8 Light at the End of the Tunnel<p>

Crash and Charlotte ran as fast as they could down the stairs. They had to get out of the hospital as soon possible, otherwise Tomas and his syndicate would have them killed.

The bandicoot would periodically look down to see Nurse Renner in his arms. Her body was almost completely still that Crash had to remind myself that she was not really dead but only appeared to look like she was.

Once the reached the bottom of the stairs, the two immediately began to run towards the exit to the hospital, only to find two cloaked figures guarding the doors.

"There is no escape!" The first one chirped in a frightening glee.

"Death is vastly approaching you. There is no place left for you to run." The second one chimed.

Crash screamed and attempted to charge into the them. He didn't even get passed them when the first one grabbed his arm and with inhuman strength, threw him and the nurse into the wall.

Crash forced himself up to feel the immense pain in his arm. There was no doubt in his mind that it was broken. He weakly looked up towards his attackers.

"Death is approaching, lone hero. All will be lost." They repeated in the spine chilling chime.

"Charlotte, take Nurse Renner and hide." Crash begged his female companion weakly.

"But what about you?!" She protested.

"I'm the one Tomas wants; he will be more preoccupied with finding me. Elkie can't lose her mom because of me, so keep her safe for as long as you can."

Charlotte firmly nodded as grabbed the unconscious nurse and fled down the halls.

Avoiding his broken arm, Crash stared at the two figures.

"This is how it's going to go down; I'm going to beat the ever loving crap out you, then I'm going to walk straight out of this place. How's that for an elaborate plan?" Crash said, smiling cockily at them.

The two figures just glared at him.

"Try if you can, bandicoot..." Said the first said.

"But what good will that do you?" The second one added.

Crash continued to grin.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

The bandicoot braced himself as he prepared to charge at them again. With a warrior cry, Crash started charging towards two creatures. While it looked like they had no notion for attack, they seemed rather relaxed, as if they knew that Crash was going to do something that would mess him up. Just as he was about an inch and half away from them, he felt something whack him from behind; sending him flying into the wall with his broken arm making contact first.

The bandicoot tried to recollect his bearings as soon as he could while he began spitting up a rather good amount of blood. His arm felt even more painful and when turned, he could actually see part of the bone starting to stick out of his fur.

"Yeah... This can't be good..." He grinned in pain.

Again however, he refused to let pain delude and stood up to face his attacker. In the shadows, he could Tomas in his reptile form, shaking his tale widely.

"You're going to have do better than that, Tommy boy. I've have lived through much worse than this." Crash said, grinning confidently.

Tomas stared deeply into the bandicoot's emerald eyes.

"This is only just the beginning of your painful demise. I plan to make your end nothing but pure and bloody agony. The deadly entity grinned, sadistically.

Crash let out a laugh.

"You know all of my enemies say the exact same thing... So what makes you think that this time is going to be any different for you?"

Tomas simply grinned.

"I'm not like any of the others you have faced. I'm type the being that people image in their nightmares. An enemy they fear they can never defeat."

"But I'm not afraid of you..." Crash glared.

Tomas' eyes darkened.

"You should be!"

The reptile then made for a second lunge for Crash, but this time the bandicoot was ready and was able to dodge the creature. Crash landed safely on the other side, grinning.

"You can fool me once, but if you try to fool me twice, well chances our you probably won't gain the result you are counting on. So what's your next strategy that you probably have hiding within those slimy scales?" Crash taunted.

Tomas glared rather annoyingly at the smart mouthed bandicoot. Without even answering him, he raised his up with notion to knock the boy off his feet. He swung his tail in a lightening speed, but Crash felt his instincts start kicking in and he double jumped into the air just before the tail could make any contact with him.

Crash landed back on his feet. He knew this was going to start to get tedious in a very short amount of time. He would have to change his battle strategy before he could Tomas the advantage.

Crash waited to see if Tomas would to try to whip his tail at him again. If he did, then he would try to perform a tornado spin into the reptile; and one the reptile was winded for how long it would appear, then he would make a run for it and try to find Charlotte and Nurse Renner.

Tomas raised up his tale again and then just like a the bandicoot had predicted, he began to whip it towards him and Crash immediately double jumped into the air and without stopping, performed a tornado spin and barreled into the entity, sending him crashing into the wall.

The creature appeared stunned.

"SCORE ONE FOR THE BOYS BACK HOME!" Crash laughed, sticking his tongue out.

The creature seemed to be trying to gain composure.

"You want to try your luck again? If you do, then your going to have to come find me..."

Without wasting another second, Crash immediately starting running down the halls in search for Charlotte and Nurse Renner.

The lights flickered all around him as he thought he sounds coming from another stairway. He peered inside to hear the sounds seemed to be coming from the lower level. He felt the assumption could have been that's where the two could have been hiding; and without another thought, starting running down the stairs.

Crash had thought for a second that it all seemed clear allowing himself to relax for a brief moment when suddenly, dozens of syndicate figures all began to surround him.

Crash cringed as he tried to swat the monstrosities away from him, but they only screeched in anger and they all grabbed the tips of their cloaks and began to transform into the frightening human bird hybrids.

Crash felt his jaw drop. One was bad enough for him back at the apartment. What was dozens of these almost invincible going to do to him?

The creatures began to screech violently as they started swarming the bandicoot. They used their razor sharp feathers to cut through his skin and allow the dark red blood to leak from the wounds. Crash tried everything in his power to fight off the beings, but they just kept coming and coming that the bandicoot could only put his arms up to prevent his stomach from being cut up; all while his arms dripped with blood.

Crash tried to move but they appeared at every corner he tried to turn. He slowly attempted to backup; never realizing that he was about lose his footing until he felt himself tumbling down several flights of stairs and crashing at the bottom into another wall.

Crash tried to pulled himself up when he felt a sharp shoot up his leg. He looked down to see a bone sticking right out of his pajama bottom. Now he had a broken leg as well.

Crash could the sound of flapping fade away, but only to replace by the sound slithering coming down the stairs.

Crash glared as he realized that it was all a diversion. He tried to move but he was in far too much pain."

In a matter a of moments Tomas had finally appeared before him. He grinned with delight when he could smell all of the blood.

"Well, well, it looks like we let our guard down once again." He laughed.

Crash mentally started to kick himself for that stupid mistake.

The reptile opened his mouth allowing the toxic looking venom drip from his fangs in a taunting manner. Crash just stuck his tongue out despite of the pain.

"You have attempted to thwart to only have yourself reduced to a bloody pulp. What were you hoping to accomplish by defeating me?" He demanded.

Crash glared coldly.

"I was hoping that I could avenge my little sister, but I guess you weren't going to let that fly, were you?"

Tomas's blue eyes darkened again.

"You were in way over your head even before we began our little battle; but now there is no fight left in you."

Crash grinned mockingly.

"Who said that I was going to die? I refuse to die; not with you and Cortex running around this planet with your little pets, respectively. I may be banged up, but I'm still not out of the game just yet. There isn't anything that I can break me..."

Crash was cut off when he heard the sound of someone calling his name.

"CRASH?! CRASH WHERE ARE YOU?!" It was Elkie.

Crash could not hide the horror in his eyes and Tomas knew it.

"Looks like your new little love interest has decided to follow you here. She probably heard about what happened to you and her mother..." He chuckled. "Maybe I should go and surprise her..."

Crash's eyes twisted into rage.

"Don't you dare! She's blind!"

Tomas laughed.

"All the better..." He began to slither away.

"NO! I WON"T LET YOU HURT HER!" Crash screamed, attempting to grab him.

Tomas turned around again; and with a sigh of annoyance, bit Crash in the leg, allowing the venom to seep through him.

"Hopefully this should keep you quiet, if not kill you! I'll come back when I finish dealing with her." He began to slither away leaving Crash trying to find everything in his power to move.

Meanwhile Elkie was using her cane to move around the hospital in search for Crash. She had been awakened by feeling that something was happening at the hospital where her mother worked at and it may have appeared that Crash was in trouble and was beckoned to find him.

She searched all around the halls, desperately calling out the bandicoot's name in hopes in that he would respond to her. Only she got nothing.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the another flight of stairs Nurse Renner was coming to again a second time. She down the see her top was red from blood but she did not feel any wounds on, giving her the feeling that it must have been Crash's blood.

She looked around anxiously to see if there was any sign the creature again, for now it was safe. She attempted to get up and go looking for the two teens that had attempted to rescue her but she found herself falling over, causing her to cry out.

Elkie heard the cry and slowly made her way towards the top of the stairs.

Nurse Renner on the other pulled herself up and started crawling towards the base of the stairs and looked up to make eye contact with her daughter.

"Elkie...?" She asked, her voice in shock.

"Mommy...?" Elkie responded, just as confused if not a little frightened.

Nurse Renner was about to question what she was doing here when to her pure horror. She could see Tomas slowly creeping up from behind her.

"OH MY GOD ELKIE! LOOK BEHIND OUT YOU!" She screamed.

Elkie slowly turned to feel something lunge towards her. Startled she barreled to left, accidently dropping her cane and leaving her helpless.

The blind girl realizing she not longer was holding her cane immediately began to panic; unable to distinguish what was around her.

"MOMMY WHERE ARE YOU?! HELP ME! I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM!" The blind girl screamed, unable to decipher where she could go as whatever was before starting lunging towards her again.

Nurse Renner watched in horror when a new feeling of strength flowed through.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOO!" She screamed; and without even thinking about, immediately dashed up the stairs.

"GET AWAY FROM MY BABY YOU BASTARD!" She screamed, attempting to stab the reptile with her letter opener.

Unfortunately the nurse had no time to react when out of nowhere, Tomas whacked her with his tail sending her flying into the wall and leaving her dazed.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, YOU BLOODY NUISCENCE!" He snarled in rage.

"MOMMY!" The blind girl cried in horror. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

She got no answer for the creature lunging towards in different directions, leaving the blind girl to swat her hands trying to fend it off and backing away.

"WHERE ARE YOU?! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!" She cried, frightened.

Tomas remained silent as he slyly allowed her to back up into a dead end at the far end of the hallway. All the while the frightened girl flayed her arms everywhere trying to decipher where she was going and where he was going to try to lunge for her next.

After minutes that seemed like an eternity, Elkie felt back press against the wall. She used to feel what her back was against when she realized she had it a dead end.

The blind girl began to cry.

"Please... I want to live... I don't want to die..." She begged, tears dripping down her face and her delicate form shaking.

Tomas stopped inches away from her.

"I didn't realize until just now, but you seem to make another side to Crash." He said musing.

"What do you mean?" She asked, innocently.

"You and the red haired both seem to have two halves to Crash. Both with their own weaknesses and almost like a good and bad side.

"How so?"

"You seem to represent the good side to Crash with your kindness and innocence, however your weakness stems from being very naïve.."

"Then what could Jan possibly represent?!" She demanded.

"Jan represent his bad side with self loathing and resentment. Her weakness stems from the fact that she acts upon impulse."

"So each other us separately is each a half of Crash, so to speak?"

"Yes... Crash has a part of both of you in him. Both of you bring out the most emotions within him whether they are good are bad. Should anything happen to either one of you, Crash would feel an imbalance and would not know how to react properly."

"So does that mean... you're going to kill me?" She whimpered.

Tomas laughed lowly.

"You must understand, child; Crash is a lot more dangerous than you may realize, and that if I don't spawn a weakness in him somehow, then he could ruin all of plans."

"But I haven't done anything to you!" She protested.

"That's true; but just imagine how much that rodent would squirm if he sees your warm blood splattered all over the floor." He giggled.

"Your insane!" She cried.

He opened his mouth, letting the venom slowly start to drip.

"It's time for you to die!"

He was about to close in her neck when he felt some stab him in the side. He turned around to see Charlotte standing there while holding a box cutter in her hands.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU MONSTER!" She snarled.

She was about to stab him again when he sent her crashing into the wall with her back making contact and she spat out a clot of blood in a daze. Elkie attempted to use this a chance to flee only she also found herself flying into wall ; only she hit her head.

Both girls were in too much pain to attempt a second attempt to flee leaving them both helpless as the entity confronted them once more.

"Now I need figure out how am going to dispose of you two nuisences. Should I deal with you quickly; or should make your death slow and painful?" He said, looking down at them with the very last of his patience.

"I would prefer to die quickly." Charlotte rasped, grinning nervously.

"CHARLOTTE!" Elkie protested.

"He'll just do it slowly, anyway!" She snarled. "You can see it in his eyes!"

"STOP! PLEASE!" A voice came behind them.

They all turned to see Nurse Renner standing there.

"Please... Please don't kill them!" She begged.

Tomas sighed.

"You really don't know when to stay down, do you?" He sighed, with great disdain.

"It's taken me years to get this good at it." She responded, not feeling very proud of that fact.

The two teens looked at her feeling very uneasy.

"Please don't kill them... kill me instead." She insisted.

Tomas raised his brows slightly.

"And why should I comply with you?" He asked, amused.

"Because I would satisfy your thirst for death. I'll let you kill me without any resistance if you let my child and her friend live." The nurse's face and voice was surprisingly calm, but tears were streaming down her face as she spoke.

"Mommy..." Elkie whimpered.

"It'll be okay, baby... You'll still have your Grandfather; he'll make up for what I failed." She said, trying to swallow back sobs.

Tomas laughed, mockingly.

"That's such a touching moment, love. It really is; and since you are so keen on dying, I'll just kill all three of you."

"Why am I not surprised?" Charlotte glared.

Tomas was about to lunge at all three of them when he suddenly himself being slammed into the wall. Spitting up blood, he looked up to see a very wounded Crash barely standing with his familiar grin.

"Like I told you, Tommy boy; I don't go down that easily."

Tomas looked rather surprised.

"How did you manage to gain the strength to come find me?" He asked.

Crash grinned fiercely.

"Like I said; I refuse to go down knowing you and Cortex lingering in the shadows."

He grinned slyly.

"But since you used all your strength just to prove your point, exactly how are you going to stop me with a broken arm, a broken leg, and venom coursing in your blood?"

Crash was about to answer when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"That's exactly what I thought the answer would be, dear boy. You don't have a prayer left in you."

Crash grinned, angrily.

"Well I gave all that I had!" He spat.

The entity eyes darkened again.

"Only now I have had enough with these delays... AND I NOW I SHALL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"

Crash closed his eyes waiting for the impact, however instead of pain, he felt a warm light bathe upon him. He opened his eyes to see Aku Aku standing above him, glowing brightly.

"Impossible... YOU CAN'T!" Tomas screamed, now looking very worried.

Aku Aku smiled with great wisdom.

"You forgot to reckon with one thing Tomas... me. I knew you would try to find me, so I had to keep myself hidden; but the time in hiding allowed to save my strength just incase something of this nature would happen; and I will not let you hurt my son!"

Crash smiled with content.

"You came for me..."

"I always do..." Said the mask, softly.

Crash pulled himself, grinning.

"It looks the odds are now back in my favor. Get ready to have my butt beat!"

Tomas glared in rage as the syndicate appeared behind them in their hybrid forms.

Crash placed the mask over his face and then he could feel some of the mask's powers radiating off of him.

He grinned as started to charge towards Tomas.

The syndicate members began to all charge towards him but with his newfound strength, Crash able to knock the wind out of each and everyone; sending them all flying out the window wounded and terrified.

Tomas saw all of this and knew deep down he had lost this round, but he refused to lose without going down without a proper defeat.

He attempted to knock the mask off the boy's face, only to have Crash easily slide away from him. He tried everything to keep up with the bandicoot but with his mask, there was no way he was going to get.

Crash then saw that Tomas was finally starting to get tired and saw his opportunity to end this nightmare.

He ran as fast as he could and with every ounce of remaining strength he had, he performed the most powerful tornado spin he could create; sending Tomas crashing several of the hospital walls. The battle was over.

Tomas finally reverted back to his human form, weakened from the battle with Crash and Aku Aku. He limped back towards them, blood dripping from his mouth and nose. His eyes were burning with rage, but he had cool smile on his face.

Aku released himself from Crash's face. Leaving the bandicoot to limp ahead, grinning widely.

"Don't look so smug, bandicoot. You may have stopped me this time, but this is only just going the beginning. I have lived for a very long time and I am a very hard being to take down. So I would suggest that you stay on your guard Crash, because the next time we meet; you don't when it will be, you won't know where I'll be, but I promise you that I will be the one to make the first move." He then disappeared into the night.

Crash limped over to the window to see where the pale human had gone; only there was nothing but the silent night and the sounds of sirens drawing near.

"Major Tom has left the building." Crash said looking back at his companions, grinning goofily and giving them a thumbs up. **(I thought this was a cute little pun :))**

Then the bandicoot finally fell over, losing consciousness.

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><p><strong>Well that's the end of the beast of a chapter. Now we only have one chapter left before the epilogue. Until then stay tuned.<strong>


	10. Letting Go

**This chapter is going to finally resolves some things with a rather touching moment. Other than let's start finishing up this story.**

**Crash is not mine OC's are mine.**

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><p>Chapter 9 Letting Go<p>

Crash opened his eyes to find himself floating around in what appeared to be world that was nothing but grey. Time seemed to be at a standstill and all of the pain seemed to be nothing but a stinging blur.

Crash was about to question how or why he had come here, when he noticed Coco started to fly toward him. He was convinced that he was only seeing things, but sure enough the little bandicoot was right there, just like how she appeared to him the last time he saw her.

"Coco?" He asked, still convinced he was dreaming.

She smiled at him.

"Yes, big brother... It's me..."

"What are you doing here? Am I dead?"

"No Crash, you're just unconscious. Aku Aku managed to purify the venom; you only lost consciousness from the pain and the blood loss."

"Then what are you doing here?" He asked.

Coco smiled sadly.

"I wanted to come and talk to you."

"About what?"

"About me.. I wanted to tell you that I don't want you to feel bad about my death. You wouldn't have been able to change the outcome not what would have happened."

"It just angers me that I that trusted that bastard; never realizing that he had done that to you. You had a life that had barely just begun; and then it was taken away from you." Crash growled.

Tears dripped from the little girl's eyes.

"Crash, I know that it wasn't fair about what happened to me, but you have to understand; sometimes that's the way things have to be. It wasn't because of you screwing up with Time Twister, or because you fell into a coma. It was because I wasn't meant to be apart of this world. I know that made be sad, but that's just the way it is."

Crash smiled at her.

"I just wish it would have been the other way around; it should have been me that had died, and you lived."

"But what about Cortex?"

"You were strong; you could have handled Cortex on your own. You probably would have been to defeat him without fucking up, like I did."

"Crash you know that may be not true; you were always stronger than me. Never doubt your limits Crash, you can do anything, more than I ever could."

The older bandicoot grinned at her.

"But I miss you..."

"I miss you, too."

Crash looked around the grey space before he thought of something.

"Coco, what's it like... being dead?" He asked.

Coco looked around before sighing.

"You know... I never really thought about it... It's almost like I hadn't really even died at all... It's just that time seems to stop moving when once you die. I only knew that time passed was when I saw you and how much you aged. I can't believe it's been three and a half years... I think you've done well for yourself, but it's time to move on."

"What do you mean move on?" He asked, confused.

"You have to let me rest... I don't want you to spend the rest of your life blaming yourself for what wasn't your fault. Live for the future... Live for yourself... You have put me and Jan behind you..."

That's when the bandicoot thought of the red haired beauty that he had always been so fond of.

"Coco... Has Jan been thinking about me?" He asked, hopeful. "Does she want me back in her life again?"

"Jan is living with her Grandparents and Kage in Vienna. She misses you everyday; but she wants you to be happy; and she believes that she will only cause you pain. So she decided to that it would best that she stay out of your life."

Crash smiled sadly.

"I miss you too, Janny." He whispered.

Then suddenly, the greyness seemed to be fading by what looked like the warm sunshine.

"What's going on?!" Crash cried.

"It's time to wake up now, big brother. You have a life to live, and people that are still alive that care about you."

"Elkie..."

He could feel the sunshine start to blind him.

"I'm going to miss you Coco." He said.

Coco smiled through tears.

"I'll miss you too, big brother."

Crash smiled at his little sister one last time before the sunshine completely blinded him.'

Crash opened his eyes to find himself laying in the hospital bed and Elkie sitting beside him, reading a book.

"Elkie...?" He asked in a raspy voice.

She looked up to see Crash was finally awake.

"Oh Crash! Thank goodness you're finally awake!" She cried happily.

He attempted to move but winced when he realized how sore his body was. and looked down to see his leg was wrapped in bandages and his arm in cast.

"How long was out for?" He asked.

"About a day or so..."

Crash smiled at the girl.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

Elkie smiled softly.

"I'm okay... My mom decided that she is going to work three very long days and take off four days to spend more time with me and my Grandfather at the deli. She said she was working far to much and it was time to change."

"I guess good things have come from this, after all." Crash grinned.

"I guess so..."

There was a knock on the door when Charlotte, Milo, and Linda entered the room.

"Look's like someone is back from beyond the grave." Charlotte grinned.

Crash grinned.

"Nothing can keep me down." He turned his attention towards Milo and Linda.

"Elkie... Charlotte... Can I talk to Milo and Linda please?"

"Sure..." The two girls left.

Milo and Linda looked at their friend; something deep within them knew what Crash wanted to talk about. Hell they were surprised that Crash hadn't said anything after all this time.

"I know about what happened to Coco... I know that guys also knew all along."

Milo started crying.

"Crash I'm sorry... Coco begged us not to say..."

"I'm not angry at either of you." Crash said, softly.

"Your not?" Linda asked, innocently.

"I know you had good intentions; you guys didn't want me to blame myself for something that I couldn't change. But I'm not going to grieve over the past; I'm going to keep on living the way I always have... I'm going to smile even more, for both us. I'm going to my life to the fullest for both me and Coco. It's what she would've wanted."

Milo looked sadly at him.

"Are you going to come back to the islands ever again?" He asked.

Crash sighed.

"I think it's time that I move on and start fresh, and I like it here in New York. So I'm going to stay here; I have people who need me right now; and I don't want to leave them."

Milo smiled, teary eyed.

"Would you believe me if I said I wasn't going to miss you?"

Crash laughed.

"You would never not miss me; besides we always have the transporter."

Linda looked at the ground.

"Kage wanted to come and visit but..."

"It would have been really awkward since Jan's living with her now..."

"Where did you find that out?" Milo asked.

"Maybe Sean or Holly had mentioned that somewhere a while back."

Milo looked at his watch.

"We better head home; our dad doesn't know we snuck off so..."

"Be sure to visit." Crash said.

"Would I never?" The aussie laughed.

The two were gone when Elkie and Charlotte reentered the room.

"So how it's going Charlotte? You still competing Saturday?" He asked.

The short haired female looked at the ground.

"Do you think I'll be able to? I mean after this ordeal."

"Charlotte... This competition means the world to you... You'll regret it if you back out now." Crash sighed.

"But I don't know if I feel content..."

"Just remember what I taught you, let yourself move freely."

"Do you think it will work?"

Crash grinned goofily.

"It did when tried it the first time. If I can let go and set my past free, then you can let go of all of your tension and dance the way you always dreamed of."

Charlotte sighed.

"There's no way around this is there?"

Crash grinned at her.

"My friend, your going to that competition..."

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><p><strong>All right everyone. Next chapter is going to be a cute little epilogue. Stay tuned.<strong>


	11. Epilogue

**All right everyone, We have now reached the end of this installment. I can't it's the end already but I have more installments to keep this going, but before we end this, I must do my shout outs.**

**First as always I would like to thank Jpbake for reviewing my stories and providing my feedback along the way. YOU ARE AWESOME!**

**Second I would like to thank Meghan Gardener and LittleAzureWyvern6 for their reviews. You two rock!**

**And finally I want to all of you that read this fic. Even if you didn't review, showing that you read it does matter.**

**And now let's end this little beast.**

**Crash is not mine. OC's are mine. Now matter how times it's still annoys me.**

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><p>Epilogue<p>

Saturday had finally rolled around. Charlotte was standing behind to see the hundreds of people sitting in the audience and five judges sitting off to the far left.

Yes it was true that she had been practicing religiously for months, but when the frightening hot lights seemed to shining down upon her, she seemed to almost completely forget everything she had been practicing for.

She would have just stayed home in bed if it were really up to her; but Crash insisted that she not chicken out. He claimed that she may not think much of it now, but somewhere down the road she was going to regret her decision and the possibilities it could lead to. So now she was waiting for her turn, and boy was she nervous as hell.

"Maybe I'll run... I'll run and never show my face here ever again..." She thought to herself.

A woman peered behind the curtain.

"You're on in two minutes, Charlotte." She said before disappearing.

Charlotte almost felt sick to her stomach.

"I can't do this! I'll screw up and then I'll be laughed at and then my reputation will forever cemented as a klutz!"

She could hear the sounds of applauding as she noticed the other dancer bowing politely before she walked back behind the stage.

"Good luck." She said before walking off.

The short haired human laughed weakly.

"And now ladies and gentlemen; we now have our final dancer! So please give it up for Charlotte Adams!"

Charlotte breathed deeply as she walked out onto the stage.

She could see all the people stare intently her. Her father was in the front row smiling and waving at her while Candy and her friends were laughing and jeering at her; hoping she would mess up so they could laugh and taunt her.

The dark blonde female stood there frigidly waiting for the classical music she chose to play.

When the music played however, the sound of the familiar pop song Crash had played when he tried to help her find comfort zone began to play. **(If you want to know what song it was, refer back to chapter 4 in the introductory part :))**

She looked towards the side of the stage to see Crash standing there, grinning at her.

"You can do it!" He whispered. "This is something you were born to do!"

Charlotte grinned before she began dancing; forgetting all about her anxiety and her nerves.

The moves were free and spontaneous but still graceful and uniform; and not once she made a mistake.

Everyone in the audience watched with awe and impressment. They couldn't believe a girl this young could be so talented and wanted her to dance forever.

The judges watched from their seats and beamed brightly at their student. She had done them proud.

Crash watched from the sides and grinned.

"That a girl." He whispered.

"Looks like your own confidence is starting to rub off on other people." Aku Aku chuckled.

"I'm back in the game Aku, and I want to help as many people I can along the way." He said. "It's great to have you back, Aku Aku."

The floating mask chuckled.

"It's great to be back."

Finally the song ended with Charlotte in her ending pose.

The audience erupted in cheers and gave her a standing ovation. Charlotte breathing deeply looked so happy before the other dancers joined her.

One of the judges walked to the center stage.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks we now have chosen a winner from this competition."

All the dancers crossed their fingers.

"And the winner is... CHARLOTTE ADAMS!"

The crowd cheered as Charlotte stood there with a look of shock on her face.

The judge handed her the trophy and an envelope that was more than likely a certain amount of scholarship money for college.

She turned to Crash before running to him and hugging him tightly.

"I DID IT CRASH!" She laughed, teary eyed.

Crash laughed.

"You sure did!"

The two were joined by all of their friends.

"This calls for a celebration. How about we all to the Japanese steakhouse on the corner? My treat!" Elkie's grandfather said.

"But you're Elkie's grandfather." Charlotte protested, feeling guilty.

"Elkie's friends are my family too; you guys are all part of the family.

"All right sushi!" Holly laughed.

"Then let's go." Charlotte's father.

"Let me just get my things." She said.

The others started off leaving her and Crash behind.

She grabbed her bag.

"You ready, big brother?" She asked.

Crash froze when she called him that before a wide grin formed on his face. He hadn't realized until just then but Charlotte was almost like if Coco had come back to him. In truth his little sister really hadn't left at all? Coco may have been dead yes, but her spirit seemed to live within Charlotte.

The bandicoot ran up to her before giving her a noogie.

"I'm ready to go, baby sister."

Crash smiled goofily as the two ran off to join the rest of friends, happy to be alive.

To be Continued

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><p><strong>The End! Thank you for ready. Stay tuned for my next installment that should hopefully be up soon. Until then head over to my profile and check out some other stories I have written for this site. Plus I still have my poll going on, so vote if you wish to do so. Until then.. DUECES!<strong>


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